Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Fun Finds

At the first of June I moved into a new apartment and even though I was moving all of my existing kitchen utensils; I still spent countless hours looking at new things I "needed".

I am a stickler for well-designed items. However, some of these things I am posting below are just cute and can be set out as statement pieces. I try to think of these things as art, as well as having a function.



Peppino pepper grinder. Stefano Pirovano. $52 from http://www.exit-art.com/


Anna Stop. Alessandro Mendini. $22 from http://www.exit-art.com/


Head Chef measuring cup. $14 from http://www.detailsart.com/


Banana Bros salt and pepper. Stefano Giovannoni. $36 from http://www.exit-art.com/





Kettle. Michael Graves. $159 from http://www.exit-art.com/



Wine corkscrew and hot plate holder. $13 from shopgetorganized.com
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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Overlooked: Lighting

With every project comes an element that is overlooked. In the Overlooked series, I will discuss elements of design that can easily become afterthoughts for small projects.
When I think of lighting, I think of four different types. The first type is what people generally think of: general lighting that provides an overall illumination. This is lighting that allows us to see a space. It is generally created by ceiling mounted or wall mounted fixtures that do not posses much character.
The second type is accent lighting which is used to highlight feature areas, such as art or a wallcovering. This type of lighting can often be overlooked until the feature is installed. Architectural lighting could fit here.
Next is task lighting. Task lighting is used to help us work and see certain spaces more efficiently. This could be a reading lamp, an under-cabinet light, or track lighting. These lights can also be considered afterthoughts.
The last type of lighting is what I call character lighting, and this is the type of lighting I consider to be one of the most overlooked of all lighting. Character lighting (inspirational photo's below) is lighting that acts as it's own feature. If it had to fit into one of the first three, I would consider it accent lighting. This lighting calls attention to a space by calling attention to itself. It must be considered in the beginning phases of a project in order to work effectively. Architectural lighting could fall into this category, as well.
Photo by: Louise Stickland
111 Buckingham Palace Road, London
http://www.colorkinetics.com/


Photo by: ©David Morrell, courtesy Lighting Technology Projects
London Eye
http://www.colorkinetics.com/

Photo by: Henning Jobst Photography
Riley Hospital, Indiana
http://www.colorkinetics.com/

Photo by: Creative Lighting Asia Ltd.
The Garden Hotel, China

To avoid overlooking elements in design, think of how you envision the entire space, completed. What makes up that space? Create a list of everything you see. Even if the project budget may not allow for things, do not leave anything out. You never know when you could inspire someone else to think bigger.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

The Mandarin Mandate

This week our team started a new project for a hospital's adjoined hotel. The hotel is available for the family of any patients who are staying in the hospital long term. The current hotel lobby is in dire need of a facelift. The finishes from the hotel seem to have been carried over into the space, making the space much more "healthcare" opposed to "hospitality". As of right now, we will just be providing finishes, furniture, and lighting for the lobby and the third floor corridors, where it conjoins with the hospital.

This is the first project in the hospitality side of design that I have been involved in, so I have had to do some research. While browsing Interior Design Magazine's website I came across a gorgeous hotel in Barcelona, the Mandarian Oriental. All of the Mandarian Oriental hotels are quite gorgeous but this one fits just my taste. I have linked the article below. Be sure to click the slideshow link and look at the other images. Here is one to taste.


The article is here. > The Mandarin Mandate: "firms:ferrater & asociados, juan tr..."
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Pantone Chairs

Pantone is known by one word. Colors. Since 1963, Pantone has made the design world easier by creating a system of interpreting, communicating and identifing color. Check out their website http://www.pantone.com/ to learn more about them.

The point of this post is to share a cool new product the company is producing. They are called Flight Stools and are available in 50 colors. Pretty cool product for Pantone fans :)


This link will take you to the order page > share
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